Gypsy Hill Park a refuge for some on Election Day

Doreen Bechtol, right, of Staunton thinks about the road ahead after Election Day with friend Cecilia Anderson, of Augusta County, in Gypsy Hill Park on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.(Photo: Holly Marcus/Special to The News Leader)Buy Photo

It seemed a typical autumn afternoon at Gypsy Hill Park. The duck pond and playgrounds drew the crowds, out to enjoy the cool temperatures as the leaves fell under an overcast sky. A mix of joggers, dog walkers and bicyclists circled the driveway. Squirrels scurried in anticipation of the coming winter. Only one thing was out of the ordinary. Many visitors sported round red, white and blue stickers that proclaimed “I Voted.”

With Election Day, the culmination of a vicious and divisive campaign many voters, it seemed, had sought to escape the final rush of madness for some respite in Gypsy Hill. There, away from it all, they expressed a mix of hope, resignation, relief and anxiousness in what the election results might bring.

“I believe this country is in financial trouble and Trump is a businessman that can help straighten it out,” said Staunton resident Todd Harris. Harris, who said he would be watching the results come in that night, but wasn’t certain that his candidate of choice would win.

“But I’m really not sure anything will change,” Harris added. “With the electoral college we really don’t have a voice.”

Staunton resident Doreen Bechtol described the aftermath of the election as a potential “Pandora’s Box.”

“There’s all of this pent-up energy and emotion still left over,” she said as she watched her children on the playground. “But I’m hopeful. Sometimes it take conflict to bring about change.”

Bechtol’s friend, Augusta County resident Cecilia Anderson shared her optimism in what life after Election Day 2016 would bring.

“With all of the conflict and negativity, some real issues came out,” said Anderson, a Bernie Sanders supported who had transferred her allegiance to Hillary Clinton. “Maybe some of that positive energy can continue after the election.”

Many park visitors declined to comment on the election, though their stickers betrayed the fact that they had soiled their hands in the process, as if it was a duty, however unpleasant, that had been completed and could now be forgotten in the park’s serenity.

As the sun set the crowds slowly abandoned Gypsy Hill’s sanctuary, darkness forcing them back into the world where they would have to confront the Internet, the T.V. and the reality of a historic election that was taking place all around them.

“We’re stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea,” commented a walker as she passed by, the sticker on her sweatshirt showing she had confronted this conundrum at the polls.

“I put my faith up there,” she said gesturing towards the sky, “Not with either of them.”

Buy Photo

Samya Baramki Swift, center, of Staunton spends an evening in Gypsy Hill Park with her children, Donovan Swift, 9, and Samantha Swift, 10, as she and Todd Harris reflect on the presidential campaigns as they come to an end on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.(Photo: Holly Marcus/Special to The News Leader)

Read or Share this story: http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/staunton/2016/11/08/gypsy-hill-park-refuge-some-election-day/93506716/

From The USA TODAY NETWORK

These sites are part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Their content is produced independently from our newsrooms.